


Running

by theHunter_and_theNinja



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Carol is out for revenge, Connie just wants to help, Daryl Needs a Hug, F/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-20
Updated: 2019-11-20
Packaged: 2021-02-16 03:20:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21501001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theHunter_and_theNinja/pseuds/theHunter_and_theNinja
Summary: Daryl finds out about what Carol did to Lydia. Connie comforts him.Post episode 10x07, so beware of spoilers if you're not caught up.
Relationships: Connie & Daryl Dixon, Connie/Daryl Dixon, Daryl Dixon & Carol Peletier, Daryl Dixon & Lydia
Comments: 2
Kudos: 73





	Running

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is mainly focused on Daryl's reaction to what Carol does with Lydia, but there is some Connie/Daryl (pre-relationship) comfort at the end.

Daryl felt like he was walking in circles trying to find Lydia. She’d failed to show up for their normal dinner together with Michonne, Judith, and RJ and now he was worried. He knew she’d been shaken by the sudden appearance and then accidental death of someone she knew from her old group, but he hadn’t thought it was enough to send her spiraling. She wasn’t on guard duty, or training, or reading a book in her favorite secluded hideaway near the corner of the back wall.

He was walking by the gate for the third time, debating about going out to look for Lydia, when it opened and Carol walked in. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion at the sight. He hadn’t even been aware that she’d left the community. Aaron was next to her, giving her a side eye every once in a while. He looked shocked and concerned, which immediately sent up red flags in Daryl’s mind considering what Carol had wanted to do with Lydia earlier that day.

“Carol?” He asked approaching her, “What were you doing out there?”

“Just getting some fresh air,” she replied coolly and he knew she was hiding something.

“You’ve never gone beyond the walls for ‘fresh air’ before,” he said unafraid to call her on her bullshit.

“Well, today I felt like it,” she dismissed him, throwing him a look that he knew was meant to tell him to drop it, “We can talk later, I need a shower.”

She walked past him, an air of “I dare you to try to stop me” following her. He chewed on his lip, wanting to push the subject more, but he let her go knowing he’d never get a straight answer. Instead, he turned his attention to Aaron.

“What happened out there?” he asked, his no-bullshit tone in full effect.

Aaron shifted uncomfortably on his feet and threw a nervous glance in the direction Carol had walked off in.

“Lydia is missing,” Daryl pushed, “What happened?”

Aaron breathed a deep sigh, but told him, “Carol brought Lydia out to the border where she knows I’ve been meeting a whisperer, Gamma, trying to get information and maybe even turn one of them to our side.”

Daryl glared at him disapprovingly, but Aaron waved him off.

“Gamma and I had talked earlier that day and she seemed to be coming around, but she was different when she came back. I assume Alpha got to her and she threatened to kill me unless I gave her intel. Carol stepped out the brush, bow drawn, and Lydia came out from behind her. The second Gamma saw Lydia, she was in total shock and ran off crying.”

“Dammit, Carol,” Daryl shouted, feeling the strong urge to punch something.

He’d begged Carol not to involve Lydia in her revenge game, but she’d done it anyway.

“Where’s she now?” Daryl demanded, leaning in closer to Aaron.

“Once Lydia found out why Carol had brought her to the border, she accused Carol of being just like Alpha and then she ran off into the woods on Alpha’s side of the border,” Aaron revealed as Daryl started to pace back and forth in front of him, “She said she was choosing her own side.”

“Shit,” Daryl sighed, bringing his thumb up to his mouth.

“Lydia was really upset by what Carol did. She felt used and manipulated by what she did and I doubt it’ll be easy to get her to come back.”

Daryl shook his head, torn between his worry and sympathy for Lydia and his feelings of betrayal and anger for Carol.

“Thanks for telling me,” Daryl said to Aaron, glancing up and seeing the genuine concern on his face.

“I know how much Lydia means to you,” Aaron replied, “I couldn’t keep the truth from you. I mean, she’s practically your daughter.”

Daryl had never admitted it aloud, but he’d started to feel the same way. She stayed in his house, came to him for advice, and just liked being around him. It did kind of feel like he’d adopted her, bonding with her over their shared history of abusive parents. But now Carol had likely ruined all the progress he’d made with her. He could understand why Carol felt like it was the right play for her, but it was a selfish decision that was bound to have some horrible repercussions in the near future.

Daryl nodded and left Aaron who just looked ashamed, like he could’ve done something more to prevent Lydia from leaving. He was too pissed to comfort his friend at the moment, however, so it would have to wait until later. Daryl stormed through Alexandria, his trademark scowl firmly in place. She noticed Michonne’s concerned look out the corner of his eye as he rounded the corner to go to his own house. He stomped up the stairs, not even trying to hide his anger. Slamming the door shut, he called out for Carol.

“We need to talk now!” he shouted up the stairs, “I know what you did to Lydia.”

He heard her bedroom door open and footsteps coming down the stairs, stopping on the bottom landing. He glared at her, letting her know without saying a word how pissed off he was about what she’d done.

She knew he was pissed, but she didn’t feel like his anger was entirely justified. Lydia wasn’t one of them, she was just some pitiful girl that stayed with them because it was immoral to toss her out onto the streets in an apocalypse. Lydia is the reason her son is dead, and she would never feel true sympathy for the girl. Maybe she had at first, but her continued willingness to put others, including Henry, in danger to save herself pissed Carol off to no end.

“Why?” Daryl demanded, “Why did you do it?”

Carol shrugged, “If word spreads that Lydia is alive, it’ll weaken our enemies.”

“We’re not talking about an object here,” he snapped, “Lydia is one of us.”

“No she isn’t,” she scoffed, shaking her head, “Lydia has never been one of us.”

Daryl stepped back at Carol’s dismissal of Lydia. He’d never seen her as someone to so quickly dismiss a kid in need. Sure, Lydia is well into her teens, but she was still just a kid to him.

“Lydia has lived here for months,” Daryl defended her, “She’s defended our walls from waves of walkers, stood for hours on watch, and done everything in her power to conform to our way of life. That makes her one of us.”

“It doesn’t matter. Telling her people that she’s alive will destabilize Alpha’s group. It was the right play.”

Daryl stared at his best friend in utter shock.

“She’s not some pawn that you can use and move around however you like,” his voice wavering as he ducked his head, “She’s... she’s...”

“Nothing,” Carol offered.

“She’s like my daughter,” he finished, looking up at her with tears forming in his eyes.

Carol stared at him in disbelief.

“You can’t actually mean that,” she said taking a step back, “She doesn’t belong here. Especially not when my _real_ son had to die to let her be here.”

“Are you saying that because she used to be a whisperer that she’s not allowed to be my kid?”

“Yes,” Carol shrugged, “She’s an unwanted refugee at best.”

Daryl couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Every word that she was saying was cutting him so deep, he had to leave. He needed to go out there and find her, but he couldn’t go beyond the border. It would risk the lives of the rest of his family.

“Someday soon, your actions are going to get someone killed. Someone’s _real_ kid is going to die and it’s going to be your fault,” he snapped, glaring up at her, “And don’t you _dare_ come crying to me about how guilty you feel afterwards. Or how empty you still are after you kill Alpha. Revenge isn’t going to bring your son back, but it might get someone else’s killed.”

“Daryl—” she started, but he ignored her.

He was too hurt by her words to stay there a minute longer. Daryl grabbed his crossbow from the corner and left their house, slamming the door behind him. Michonne ran up to him as he left his house, his face covered by his long hair.

“Daryl!” she called, reaching out to grab his arm, “What’s wrong?”

Daryl stopped in his tracks, but wasn’t able to speak.

He took a deep breath and forced out, “Ask Aaron, I’m going out.”

She could tell how distraught and angry he was, so she let him go. It was so bad, he’d been physically shaking in her grip. She knew it was best to let Daryl be on his own when he got like this, knowing he’d come to her when he was ready. She watched him walk off towards the gate and call out for Dog before she left to go find Aaron.

* * *

Daryl wasn’t quite sure how he’d ended up at Hilltop. He hadn’t really had a destination in mind when he started driving. He’d just known he needed to get away from Alexandria and Carol as fast as he could. The gates opened for him without question and he road in, avoiding contact with anyone. He parked his bike and told Dog to go find something to do before making his way toward Barrington house.

It was like everyone could sense that he didn’t want to talk and was avoiding him because nobody approached him as he made his way inside. He knew he was probably radiating all kinds of “fuck off” vibes despite him not really meaning too. He just had that look about him that made people leave him alone when he was pissed off.

He opened the door to what had been dubbed “his room” by Paul ages ago and tossed his bike keys onto the dresser. He paused to take off his vest and throw it on the best before heading out to the balcony to smoke because fuck he needed it. Before the apocalypse, he probably would’ve chain smoked an entire pack of cigarettes being this stressed and pissed off, but he only had about five left in his pack, so only one or two would have to do.

He barely acknowledged the other form sitting out of the balcony as he made his way to the opposite corner and sat down. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it, breathing in the stale nicotine deeply, letting it calm his nerves slightly. His mind was still swirling with thoughts of his fight with Carol and he felt himself itching to go back and just yell at her for hours.

He couldn’t believe some of the things that she’d said about Lydia. She’d pretty much dismissed her as nothing more than a war criminal and pawn at best. He’s known for a long time how hard it was for her to see Lydia alive and well day after day while Henry was rotting in a grave at the Kingdom, but he’d never realized just how much anger and hatred Carol harbored towards her. He’d taken Lydia under his wing, wanting to give her a better life that she’d ever had before and Carol had just thrown it all away despite him literally begging her not to. Lydia might not have been his official daughter, but she had damn well started to feel like one to him.

He heard the chair next to him squeak as someone sat down next to him. He glanced over in annoyance, but it strangely dissipated when he saw that it was Connie sitting there. Her face was full of concern and worry as she looked at him. She could clearly see the red rims of his eyes and the stale tear tracks from when he’d had to stop in the woods and let himself feel his loss.

 _“What’s wrong?”_ she asked him, reaching out to touch his shoulder.

He didn’t reply, but he placed one of his hands over hers, letting her know that he was okay with her being there. She turned her hand around and took his bigger one in hers, rubbing her thumb across the back of his hand. He watched her ministrations as the cigarette in his other hand burned away to nothing. He flinched slightly when the burning part of the cigarette reached the flesh of his hand and burned him. He dropped it and crushed it with the heel of his boot.

 _“Lydia ran away,”_ he revealed, taking his hand back so that he could sign.

She was obviously shocked by his revelation, _“Why?”_

 _“We found out Alpha told her people that she killed Lydia, so Carol wanted to show Lydia to the skins in an attempt to unsettle them,”_ he explained, _“Lydia felt that Carol manipulated and used her, so she ran off.”_

Connie said nothing as she listened to Daryl explain what was going on, offering him her silent support.

_“I confronted Carol about it, but she dismissed me. She still refused to back down and admit she was wrong when I told her how Lydia has really become my daughter. She’s so focused on revenge, it’s like she can’t see anything beyond accomplishing that goal. I had to leave and somehow I just ended up here.”_

Connie’s heart went out to Daryl. His best friend had selfishly used his adoptive daughter to further her plan to get revenge on Alpha. She could empathize with Carol’s pain over losing her son having lost a child once herself, but Carol’s actions were selfish and cruel. Lydia was an abused child who Daryl had taken under his wing. She had no right to use Lydia like that and it had resulted in the teen running away, breaking Daryl’s heart.

 _“I’m so sorry,”_ she said at a loss for words.

 _“I begged Carol not to do it,”_ he sighed sadly, _“That girl has already endured so much pain. I wanted to spare her from any more, but she ignored me.”_

What Carol had done was horrible on so many levels and Connie just couldn’t find the right words to say. Connie hesitated for a moment before leaning across the small divide between them and pulling him into a hug. She wasn’t sure how big he was on physical contact, but she hoped that he would accept her gesture of comfort. She wanted him to know that she was with him.

She felt him tense as she hugged him, but only for a few seconds before he relaxed into the embrace, pulling her closer. Part of her couldn’t believe that he was letting her, still a relative stranger, be there for him in such an intimate way. She could feel him shaking in her arms and she decided that she didn’t care how long she had to sit here, she was not going to be the first person to pull away. She could tell he needed someone right now who was outside all of the bullshit happening back at Alexandria and she was more than happy to be the one to provide whatever he needed.

It was a good ten minutes or so before he broke the embrace, collecting himself and leaning away. She could see the fresh tear tracks on his face and feel the wet spot he’d left on her shirt, but she didn’t care.

 _“Do you have any idea where Lydia is now?”_ she asked.

 _“Other side of the border according to Aaron,”_ he revealed.

 _“So you can’t go after her,”_ Connie realized.

 _“Exactly, it would put the rest of my family at risk,”_ he signed, his frustration at clear in his words, _“I can’t put everyone at risk for the sake of one girl, even if that girl is Lydia.”_

Connie nodded. It was too risky to afford going into Alpha’s territory to search for Lydia which is probably exactly why Lydia went there.

 _“She knew we couldn’t reach here there,”_ Connie said thinking aloud.

Daryl nodded sadly, _“Carol didn’t just ruin her relationship with Lydia. She broke Lydia’s trust with all of us, including me.”_

Daryl rubbed his hands together, looking out over Hilltop.

 _“If she keeps pulling shit like this,”_ Daryl said, _“she going to get someone killed.”_

Connie nodded in agreement. Carol was headed down a dangerous path that could lead to not only her death, but the destruction of their homes. Alpha’s horde is massive and if Carol makes the wrong decision out of her desire for revenge, she could send the entire horde directly at them. Carol’s playing a dangerous game and everyone’s lives are on the line.


End file.
